Afghanistan likely to host West Indies in Lucknow

Lucknow, Jul 8: The city of Nawab's -- Lucknow -- would get to hold a test mach after 25 years when the Afghanistan team would be playing their lone test match against the visiting West Indies here in November this year.

Recently, Lucknow's Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana international cricket stadium has been made the home ground of the Afghanistan cricket team. The last test match played at the K D Singh Babu stadium in Lucknow was in 1994 when India played against Sri Lanka.

Now ICC has given clearance for an Afghanistan- West Indies tie with two T20's, 3 one-days and a test match, all to be played in Lucknow in November. According to the schedule, released by the Afghanistan cricket board, Afghanistan National team will host West Indies for a tour from November 5 December 1 in India. The series will include three T20Is, three ODIs and a one-off Test match.

Ahead of the series against West Indies, the national team is also scheduled to play a one-off test against Bangladesh in September followed by a triangular T20I series that will feature Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, it said. Though the agreement between the Afghanistan cricket board and the authorities of the Ekana stadium would be done in a week time, but BCCI has said that the stadium authorities would give priority to the domestic Indian matches.

UP Cricket Association (UPCA) secretary Yudhveer Singh said here on Monday that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) would be signed between the Afghanistan cricket board, UPCA and the Ekana management within a week time. "After the MoU is signed, all the Afghanistan's international matches would be held in Lucknow," he said.(UNI)